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The World Player of the Year selection panel has added further misery to England’s dour World Cup campaign, snubbing the host nation’s stars for the top individual gong in world rugby.
Wallabies duo Michael Hooper and David Pocock are two of the six players who will compete for the Player of the Year prize after nominations were released Friday night.
Four of the players in contention played in the World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand yesterday, with All Blacks duo Dan Carter and Julian Savea getting the nod.
Scotland’s inspirational captain Greig Laidlaw and Wales lock Alun Wyn-Jones round out the nominations. But the glaring omission is of an England player to add more pain to a disastrous World Cup for the host nation.
The RFU has launched a review of its rugby programme and coach Stuart Lancaster’s job is on the line as they search for answers.
England became the first host nation in World Cup history to be bundled out of the tournament before the quarter-final stage.
Speculation is mounting that Sam Burgess will return to rugby league and Lancaster’s reputation is in tatters.
Now they’ve been overlooked for individual honours and no one can argue with southern hemisphere players dominating the nominations. “The World Cup has a huge bearing on the best player of the year,” said former Wallabies coach John Connolly.
“David Pocock had an outstanding tournament and so did Alun Wyn-Jones, they were both superb in their matches.
“So it’s no surprise that what happens in a World Cup dictates what happens there and they’re selected on form. Australia and New Zealand are up there in the world, England had a horror campaign.” Wallabies coach Micahel Cheika has also been nominated for Coach of the Year. Cheika couldn’t split Pocock and Hooper when picking his team, so he decided to unleash a tag-team open-side flanker combination. World Rugby panellists couldn’t split them either with Australia’s premier flankers now battling for a player of the year prize instead of the Wallabies’ No 7 jersey.
Pocock has been superb in his comeback from two knee reconstructions, dominating the Test arena and leading the statistics at the World Cup for turnovers. Hooper continues his career surge. Despite being just 24-years-old he has already played 50 Tests, won a Super Rugby grand final with the NSW Waratahs and captained the Wallabies. Carter is the crafty New Zealand veteran who will move to French rugby after the World Cup while Julian Savea is the new All Blacks version of Jonah Lomu.
“This has been a very special year for rugby with some of outstanding individual team performances,” said Wallabies 1999 World Cup-winning captain and World Player of the Year chair John Eales.— Sydney Morning Herald
Online Reporter